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Sunday, November 20, 2016

The Smoking Cow

Earlier this year, The Grilled Cheese Academy ran their yearly grilled cheese contest on the Book of Faces.  $10,000 was to be awarded to the winner.  That would finance a lot of BBQ competitions for sure.  So, I decided to meld my love of BBQ into a gooey grilled cheese sandwich. After some deliberation, I decided upon a pulled beef sandwich with a buffalo twist.  I give you The Smoking Cow.

First, I took a chick roast and seasoned liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic.  I brought my smoker to a temperature of 250 F and added some pecan chunks to the fire to use as my smoking wood. I placed the roast in an aluminum pan and placed the pan in the smoker.  After the roast reached 175 F, I covered the pan tightly with aluminum foil and brought the roast to a temperature of 205 F.  I then removed the pan from the smoker and allowed the chuck roast to rest on the counter for one hour while still covered.  Then Hope pulled the meat off of the bone.  I gotta tell you, it was hard not to eat all of the pulled beef at this point.  It was that good.




The rest of the sandwich goes like this.

Buffaloed Cole Slaw

1, 1 lb package of pre made cole slaw mix that contains carrot
1 celery rib, finely diced
1/4 cup of finely diced sweet onion
1/4 cup of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1/2 cup of your favorite buffalo ranch wing sauce

I mixed the ingredients together to use as a topping for the grilled cheese.  By the way, the slaw is so good, you could use this as a stand alone side dish.  I loved the spiciness of the dressing mixed with the creaminess of the Gorgonzola cheese.  The celery and onion just helped to add that buffalo flavor.


Next, it was time to build and grill the sandwich.  For bread, I used asiago cheese bread from Pepperidge Farm.  You could use any bread of choice.  I would probably use something nice and crusty the next time around.

I buttered the outside of the bread and placed two pieces of thinly sliced provolone cheese on each piece of bread.  Then, I placed a generous helping of pulled beef on top of one half of the sandwich.


Next I topped the meat with the buffalo ranch cole slaw and placed the other half of the sandwich on top for grilling.


Hope and I pulled out our trusty cast iron skillet and grilled the sandwich over medium high heat.



I really love how this sandwich turned out.  All of the flavors came together nicely.  Spicy, creamy Gorgonzola, melted provolone, crispy cheese bread.  We uploaded our entry in anticipation of doing well in the contest.

Unfortunately, we did not win this year.  Perhaps we will have better luck next year.  But, we did have fun creating this sandwich.  I suggest that you try this grilled cheese at home.  You won't be disappointed.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill